January's Tip of the Month

Do I Need More Insulation?

If your heating or cooling bill seems like it's too high, you should probably investigate the amount of insulation you have versus the amounts recommended for your area. This is especially true if your feet feel cold when you're downstairs in the winter or you can't seem to get the upstairs bedroom cool enough to sleep comfortably in the summer.

To answer the question you'll need to do two kinds of research. First, find out how much insulative value is recommended for each barrier structure in houses in your area. To do that in the United States, you can use the handy zip code form developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Second, go see what's in your ceilings, floors and walls now.

Note every layer between you and the outside world. Then find the R-value of each of those layers, add that up, and compare it to the recommended value. To find the R-values for your existing ceiling or floor or wall, you can use this chart at ColoradoENERGY.org. The important point to remember is that each piece of a ceiling, wall or floor has insulative value. You don't have to add enough insulating material to provide the recommended R-value all by itself. To achieve the best return on your investment, you should try to match the R-value of the entire cross-section of the ceiling, floor or wall to the recommended value.